Is Valve making a new esports title?

New screenshots of a video game have now been floating around social media platforms, which are being claimed as a new esports game developed by Valve. The game is allegedly called Deadlock and has thrown players into a mix.

Popular reported and leaker Gabe Follower on X posted some images and reported that the game would be a 6v6 hero shooter with lanes with tower defence similar to a MOBA game while having the game feel like a third-person hero shooter.

Since testers started sharing Deadlock screenshots all over the place, here's ones I can verify, featuring one of the heroes called Grey Talon. pic.twitter.com/KdZSRxObSz

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) May 17, 2024

Looking at the screenshots shared, the game does give the feel of a MOBA title mixed with other elements. The third-person setting is an interesting approach. Smite, which is also a MOBA title, uses this approach, however, it is a full-fledged MOBA game while there is no information on Deadlock.

“Hero design pretty much inspired by Dota universe. Main map references modern steampunk European city (little bit like Half-Life). Initially game had sci-fi elements inspired by Half-Life and Portal, but after bad feedback dev team decided to focus on fantasy,” Gabe Follower said.

Difference in opinion

While some fans are calling out Valve to focus on the current games, others are eager to see an actual good hero shooter from the company with a better anti-cheat. However, there has not been any official word from the developers themselves and there likely won’t be unless the game is about to be released.

At this point, no one can prove the legitimacy of these screenshots or guarantee that Valve won’t put the game in the basement, considering it is very early in development. Even if Valve decides to continue, It will likely be some time before players see decent gameplay.

That said, the game can also compete to be a potential esports title in future and with Source 2, the studio might want to try out something new as the last few releases haven’t been very fruitful compared to its trademark game Dota 2 and Counter-Strike.